Be yourself, AND part of the crowd

Teenager, Clodagh has always been quite independent, and she took it in her stride when she got her cochlear implants. She was nearly five when she received her second implant and was back at school within the week, playing with her friends and supporting them at sports day, as if nothing had happened. But it wasn’t all plain sailing, says her dad, Alex.

Even as a youngster, she could put her own coil back on. She’d put it back on faster than I could ever do.

Alex, parent

For almost her whole life, Clodagh fitted in and was accepted into the mix with her friends. The problem came in Year 3, when she was about 7 or 8 years old. At her primary school, that was the year they did swimming lessons. For the first time, Clodagh was truly deaf amongst her hearing peers. For the first time, she was identifiably different.

‘It was a term of real emotional turmoil. She withdrew and didn’t want to go to school because she was different and stood out from the others,’ says Alex

‘Now, of course, there is the Aqua+ and Clodagh can use that when she swims. I wish it had been available for her then. It would have made a big difference to her when she was in primary school. It’s so important for kids to fit in.’

‘Clodagh’s independent personality helps with that. Mostly she manages her devices herself. She knows when there’s a problem with the sound processor and, if she can’t fix it, she asks for help.’

As a teenager, Clodagh is just like her friends, always listening to music. She’s learned what the direct streaming means and really enjoys it.

Alex says, ‘Clodagh has always been open about her deafness and her friends accept that as part of who she is. When a large group of them went together to a theme park last year, she was worried she might lose the processors. But she is comfortable enough with this crowd that she just took the processors off while she was on the rides.’

‘That sense of belonging, of being part of the group, is vital for their confidence and wellbeing when they are this age. Anything that helps with that – like Aqua+ or being able to stream music without extra devices – it all has to be a good thing.’